Official USS Tullibee Web Site

Last year's reunion on August 10th, 2002 was a great success. Thirty Tullibee Veterans and twenty-two guests were able to attend the reunion, which was held at the Groton Inn & Suites in Groton, CT.

Many veterans brought memorabilia in the form of pictures, newspaper clippings, lighters, plaques, etc. One Tullibee Veteran who was unable to make it to the reunion donated the brow skirt from Tullibee's later years of service and a large black and white photograph of Tullibee underway (thanks to Jeff Knight). Both were displayedat the reunion--the brow skirt above the podium and the photograph in front of the podium.

We had a great buffet luncheon and many veterans gave memorable speeches (and, yes, I know--I still have some speeches to transcribe and post on the website from that day). :)

The renewed camaraderie among the veterans on that August day crossed generations. It was great to see guys from the sixties, seventies, and eighties all talking about their experiences aboard Tullibee. After all, that is what reunions are all about.

Many of you have asked me when the next reunion will be. And many of you would like to see another one sooner rather than later. As much as I would like to put another reunion together, I cannot do it this year. I have too many commitments with night school starting up again on January 21st (four classes--one class each night from Monday to Thursday) and being a full-time dad during the day while my wife is working.

However, all is not lost. I would like to "pass the torch" to a Tullibee Veteran or Veterans who would like to take over the responsibilities of planning another reunion. I can provide you with the steps I took to put last year's reunion together. The legwork for planning future reunions is in place. I would still run the Official USS Tullibee Web Site, updating it with information that you, as reunion coordinator, will provide to me as you get new information about the where, when, what, and how of the reunion planning. Once you have the information on how to organize the reunion, I will also be your consultant if you are stuck on something that you don't quite know how to proceed with.

One thing that might be good for the next reunion is to plan other events. Given the short time I had to plan last year's reunion, I was unable to put other events together, such as a golf game, a breakfast get-together, or a nighttime gathering at the Subvets. Things did work out though as some Veterans met the day before the reunion and organized their own gatherings. And although the reunion location of Groton, CT was close by to Gloucester, MA where I live, it was still almost a three hour drive--not feasable or accessable enough to "see" other places of interest to set up more events. It may be easier for a reunion coordinator to have the reunion near their hometown. That will be left up to them. But, it would be great if the next reunion took it up a notch or two from the last by scheduling planned events, apart from the main event. Of course, again, that is up to the coordinator or coordinators of the next reunion.

One other thing I found out is that there are a couple of men that served aboard the first USS Tullibee (SS 284) that are still with us today. They transferred off before she was sunk by a circular run on March 26th, 1944. It would be great if a joint reunion was held to honor the men of the 284, as well as the 597.

I would say that as of right now there is plenty of time to plan and organize another reunion if one is planned for August, 2003. (Note: Please, do not make arrangements to attend a reunion yet. A specific date and place has not been etched in stone.) However, as time passes, and if there are no takers to begin planning a reunion by mid-March, it becomes increasingly difficult to put one together on such short notice. I found that out the hard way when I put last year's reunion together in only three and a half months! It was a difficult task, with all the other responsibilities I had, but in the end it was very rewarding to see all of you having a good time last August 10th.

So, with that said, would you like to be the reunion coordinator for the next USS Tullibee Reunion? If so, contact me, Paul Lambert, at uss.tullibee@verizon.net. If there are many who would like to take over, I can put you all in touch with each other and you can decide as a group when and where the reunion will be and who will take on certain responsibilities. Remember that as time passes, it becomes more difficult to organize and plan a reunion.

If you would like to see another Tullibee reunion this year, in 2003, and you feel you can sacrifice some time to plan and organize it, now is the time to step up to the plate and take over the responsibilities as Reunion Coordinator! :)

ATTENTION VETERANS OF THE USS TULLIBEE (SSN 597)
Reunion Coordinator(s) Wanted to Plan the Next Tullibee Reunion
By Paul Lambert
January 14, 2003